Hideout!

Okay, so yes programming is at the core of any and every game on the market but it has to be put in combination with other elements to make it a great one. We often forget the multiple talents that go into a video game, after all it is a full product. If you’re looking to get started on your own video game of sorts, here are just a few of the things you should consider before you get started (in no particular order):

• Story
  • what is the background of your story? It’s purpose, it’s objective?
• Gameplay
  • how do people get to actually play your game? what buttons do they have to press? what obstacles do they need to avoid? what are the consequences if they don’t?
• Usability
  • how easy and intuitive is it to actually play your game? If I am a user, and I become intrigued by your game and want to play it straight away can I intuitively know what controls to press (ie: on my xbox controller, use the joystick to move around) or do I need to read instructions first? (tip: you don’t want your user to have to do the latter option most often)
• Design
  • what is the overall design of your game going to be? is it consistent? can i see a screen shot of your game and recognize that it’s your game and not someone else’s?
• Concept art
  • you have the design, now it’s time to put it on paper and make sure your entire team is on board with it. Do they understand what your vision is? ex: does the programmer know how to allow the required movements in the environment you have created? does the 3D artist know how to make your models such that they comply both with design as well as software restrictions?
• Graphics
  • Staying consistent with your game’s design, you also need to have graphics to deliver your game to the masses. What is your logo? what does your website look like? etc. But most importantly can your game be easily identified from these mediums?

• Visual Appeal
  • So you’ve got some of the back-end stuff sorted out, now what does the actual game look like? What do the characters look like? What about the environment? What about the heads-up-display (HUD)? Most importantly does it contribute towards captivating your audience?

• Sound Effects & Music
  • This is one aspect that is often forgotten in initial stages, but just start play a game without sound effects and see how lame it is. Sound can do so many things including: bringing across feedback to the player, creating a mood , enhancing the play-ability of the game and altogether making it an entire experience!

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• Hardware
  • What physical hardware components are needed to play your game? (xbox controllers? keyboard? mouse? joystick?) tip: if you want maximum play-ability, choose hardware that is widely available and used ex: computer keyboards and mouse are widely used over a specific model of joystick
• Technical requirements to play the game
  • how much RAM does someone need to play your game? Do they need a specific graphics card? sound card?
• Marketing
  • If you want people to play your game, you’re going to have to market it. Even just telling your buddies about it is a form of marketing. But what are you going to say? People don’t have much time, you need to be able to summarize it in 10 to 20 seconds tops!! Then once they know about it, where can they get more information? Where can they get more information? How can they get to playing the actual game? 
• Branding
  • If you’re going to market it, especially by mediums other than ‘word-of’-mouth’ you’re going to need a brand identity. Something that uniquely identifies your game. Make sure it is consistent, so that whatever platform it is seen on it can be recognized and related back to your product.  
• Advertising
  • People are bombarded with ads, and most often ignore them. How are you going to bring across your product such that people will listen? 
• The Competition
  • It’s hard to come up with an idea that no one has ever come up with before, especially in the gaming world. So the best way to stay on top is to recognize and keep a look out for games that are considered to be your ‘competition’. These would be games that have the most similar game play, visual appeal, etc that your game is going to be competing with for an audience. One game doesn’t have to have all of these similarities, but you need to keep a watchful eye on them all and then analyze them. What features do they have? Read reviews, what are their players saying? what do they like? what don’t they like?
• Website
  • The web is such a staple now that it’s almost detrimental to your product if you do not have a tangible site to go to. Plus, don’t expect people to know your URL off the top of their head which means your product must be ‘google-able’ and for it to be you need to have content on the web! Choose whichever medium you like (ie: it could just be videos posted to youtube) but make sure it has your product attached to it in some way so that people can actually find it. Using google analytics is a great way to monitor your site too. It helps you keep track of who is viewing your site, how often, from where, internationally, and more.
• Differentiating factor
  • video games are basically a ‘dime-a-dozen’ now a days, so yes you’re developing a video game but what’s the big deal? (please don’t take offense, read on..) What is it that you’re bringing to the table that sets you apart from the rest? If you don’t really have anything different, don’t let that discourage you, just starting on a project such as developing a video game shows much more than what’s on the surface. It shows great initiative, determination, commitment, and not to mention your actual skills involved in making it!

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 18th, 2009 at 1:18 am and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.